Hoodoo spurs on Carvalhal

CARLOS Carvalhal and his Swansea players start 2018 bottom of the Premier League and facing a meeting with the only team they have never beaten in the top flight.

Tottenham arrive at the Liberty Stadium this evening as firm favourites to extend their unbeaten run over the Welsh side and push the Swans into deeper relegation woe.

But after a dramatic 2-1 comeback win at Watford in Carvalhal’s first game, Swansea believe the new boss can help them finally end their Spurs hoodoo.

“The win at Watford was a step forward and now we have to keep going and keep fighting. Football is all about confidence,” said forward Jordan Ayew.

“We only had two days’ training under Carlos, but he told us we had to run more and be more aggressive.”

Wilfried Bony will be assessed to see if he can feature, with Tammy Abraham and Oli McBurnie also in contention to feature up front.

For Spurs Harry Kane, scorer of a hat-trick in his past two games, is a doubt because of illness.

With a home game against West Ham on Thursday, Kane may not make the trip. If he misses out it would mean a first league start for Fernando Llorente against the club that sold him for £12million last summer.

But manager Mauricio Pochettino believes the versatility of Son Heung-Min could hold the key for Spurs up front.

“Sonny is not a specialist,” Pochettino said. “He is not a striker but he can play like a striker. He is not a winger but can play on the wing. He is not a No10 who plays in the pockets but can play there. That is the good thing in the squad.” CARVALHAL